Amandla - Festival of Unity, was a music festival held July 21, 1979, at Harvard Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts. The theme and unity was between those who supported and celebrated the liberation of South Africa and also those who supported the on-going efforts of people in Boston to end racism locally, on the streets, within schools, places of work and within families.

This performance of Bob Marley and The Wailers is fantastic! There is a introduction by activist, Dick Gregory, that is peppered with political and social talk regarding issues of that moment in time. It's a piece of history that is classic if you are one of Dick Gregory's many fans. The music starts at the 15 minute 33 Second point. Turn it up, think, groove and enjoy! GC

In the beginning of 2010 the Playing For Change crew began work on a new Song Around the World, John Lennon's "Imagine." It has been an amazing year of production, taking the crew from the favelas of Brazil to the shrines of southern India, from villages in Nepal to the glittering urban landscape of Tokyo and New York, and beyond.

This song is the Playing For Change Foundation's gift to the world. The Playing For Change Foundation feels honored to have the blessing and generous support of Yoko Ono as music lovers around the world join together to launch the Power to the People campaign. The campaign seeks to advance John Lennon's vision of peace by engaging artists and audiences to contribute to music education programs worldwide. Proceeds raised will help build music schools, support teachers and music programs, purchase instruments, and connect schools for cross-cultural learning and conflict resolution across borders. Music IS the power: Power to the People.

To learn more about the PFC Foundation, the schools they are building, the lives they are touching, and how you can participate, please visit the Playing For Change Foundation's website at http://playingforchange.org/

Hear more songs from Playing for Change II and get some MP3 downloads or the entire album :)Amazon.com Widgets

Black Dub is a musical collaboration that consists of soul girl Trixie Whitley on vocals and occasional guitar & piano, Brian Blade on drums, Daryl Johnson on bass, and the instigator of the project and the fantastic Daniel Lanois who writes the songs and plays guitar & piano.

This fantastic song written by Ann Peebles and her husband Don Bryant, has been covered by many greats. Here is one of the early live recordings of the song which was made during the making of her album titled Full Time Love.

Howard "Bulldog" Grimes was on Drums, Thomas Bingham on Guitar and Don Bryant on the Wurlitzer keyboard.

There is no better way to describe Nneka than to simply say she has "it".

Her songs are and lyrics are deep and complicated. They personify an independent voice and rebel spirit that challenges the status quo where greed and corruption in her native Nigeria and throughout the world is rampant. Right out of the box, in the feel and groove department, she has that "it" thing too. It's one of the main ingredients.

What separates Nneka from most of the rest in the supposed top tier is that her songs dig hard to say something important. This leads me to wonder why she is not in the top tier, yet. I long for the day that she and artists like her are the top tier that exists. Perhaps in due time, substance will trump bling.

Her songs weave in and out from what seem like love songs at first, into geopolitical humanitarian statements often pointed at unnamed political leaders. At least her songs naturally conjure thoughts of certain leaders without even mentioning their names. Her songs make those who listen think. Nneka really reaches deep for truth which she considers to be real love.

This is an amazing live take of Nneka performing one of her signature songs titled Heartbeat. The studio version of this song (second one down from here) is the very first song I ever heard of Nneka's years ago. And, it did not sink in at first listen. It took a few listens to interpret the meaning of her lyrics clearly, but when I did I felt her depth and it had impact. The song is screaming at political leaders questioning if they hear the heartbeat of their electorate or in the case of dictatorships, the people they rule. I like the interview that follows live take in the video below. It's a tiny window of insight into Nneka. I have had a few chances to speak with her in person and I came away feeling her authenticity is genuine.

Nneka - Heartbeat (live in France with French/English Subtitle after song - 2009)

I've been following Cecilia Noel since the mid 1990's when her ex-husband Tris Imboden (famous for drumming for Chicago and a great California surf inspired band known as Honk in his earliest years) saw me filming the China Club ProJam and asked me to shoot some live music concerts of his then wife when she had just been signed to Sony Music.

The A&R guy, Kenny Komisar, who signed Cecilia Noel to Sony was way ahead of his time. Komisar signed Cecilia just before the beginning of the Latin/Pop explosion that Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez were part of. The band that Cecilia Noel put together as Cecilia Noel & The Wild Clams was a magnificent undeniable organic cuban inflused latin flavor that killed. I am talking real burning hot unmanufactured blazing funky assed latin music! The record label, at large, however, just did not get Cecilia Noel at that time, and accidentally let her go, releasing her from her recording contract. Just a couple of years later, that Latin scene exploded.

However, none of that bad timing ever got in the way of Cecilia's burning desire for the show to go on. She built a independent movement on her own. She worked hard, playing tons of shows has toured to every continent and numerous countries.

Always known for having the creme of the crop session musicians in her band, not to mention to sexy Wild Clam singers, Cecilia Noel has staked her claim as one of the truest Latin/Funk/Jazz Salsa Queens the world has ever seen. Look at the size of her band, and the quality of the artists and it's easy to calculate the amount of people power it takes to run such a tight ship. This is a great example of what real music from real musicians is all about! Enjoy! GC
Dip It - Live - June 2009

Came across this cool, made in mid 2009, raw video of the Icelandic musician and singer known Mugison while on his 5 boroughs 1 day tour performing his song entitled I Want You. The performance was filmed live by film maker Scott Fine inside the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art in Staten Island, New York, in front of a small group.

Found these cell phone videos captured by DJ Sheepp at a DJ Shadow performance in Australia on July 29, 2011. DJ Sheep wrote, "One of the most amazing live shows I've witnessed from a DJ/producer. Optical illusions at their finest, with some crazy new Shadow material..."

Lost for 50 years, 1 hour and 45 minutes of newly discovered 16mm concert films with fantastic audio recordings from the 1961 Antibes Jazz Festival in France with Ray Charles in his prime along with the original Raeletts and his band that included David "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford.

These were the first concerts Ray Charles had ever done in Europe. A must see!

If you like DJ backed hip hop rhyme sayers, you might enjoy the sonic combustion and lines of Planet Asia, a young rapper whose crew reached out to the MUSIC TELEVISION YouTube Channel by way of a friend request. Thank you, Planet Asia! Very impressive tracks.

Go to the following link to hear a pretty great live take of Muse performing the song made famous by Nina Simone titled Feeling Good. It was recorded live at Wembly Stadium in June 2007. After watching, come back here for more :)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PN6egPgazA

They had the whole audience singing along, as better evidenced via this cell phone take from the nosebleed section, which actually captures the essence of the crowd better than the slick version from above. It makes one realize how big of an act Muse really is.

This is the Nina Simone version of Feeling Good which appeared on her 1965 album titled I Put a Spell on You

Those videos of the fantastic duo known as Hank @ Cupcakes made me think of another great duo, The Black Keys. Here is the Black Keys performing a in store at the world famous Grimey's record store several years back.

Here is a fun take of the hard rocking Grace Potter and her drummer playing with Daryl Hall for Hall's online show, Live at Daryl's House. Daryl sits in to do doing vocal harmonies and play guitar. Enjoy! GC

I love Gaby Moreno so much. Her music is just wonderful! She plays in everything from full blown electric rock bands all the way down to keeping it simple, unplugged and acoustic. She jumps from from English to Spanish songs as she crosses genres with grace and style.

Below is a recent 2011 performance of Gaby Moreno on NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert with her friend Adam Levy sitting with her on guitar. She performs three original songs, all so sweet and captivating, finishing with a song she wrote titled Sing Me Life which is sort of a call to arms to not let outside powers rule ones world. It got my mind wandering the way great songs do. The studio version is great too and has a tasty feel and production. Actually her entire record, Illustrated Songs, is like that. Enjoy! GC

***Gaby Moreno update: Since this post was originally posted in August of 2011, Gaby has transcended beyond "indie" status when she was signed to Metamorfosis‎ Records in March of 2012. In November, 2013, Gaby won the Latin Grammy in the category for Best New Artist, something the MusicTelevision.Com Family had proclaimed several times prior to that as far back as 2006 :)

Here is a fantastic take of James Brown performing live on Soul Train. Obviously, The Godfather of Soul is not the kind of man to lip sync, like some artists did on Soul Train. A thank you to the IkeDyson SoulTube channel for the great clip.

JAMES BROWN performs Papa Don't Take No Mess - My Thing - Hell.

Connect direct with the official James Brown legacy website at JamesBrown.Com

Click image below to listen to clips of James Brown 20 All Time Greatest Hits :)

Here is one of our most favorite artists who seems way too under the radar. Her name is Ayo. In this video below she performs her song entitled Black Spoon, for the French website, madmoiZelle.com that has featured many unique artist presentations over the years such as this great recording of Nneka. Enjoy! GC

Rainbow Bridge is a 1972 film directed by Chuck Wein that features footage from a Jimi Hendrix concert, and a short piece of conversation between Pat Hartley, Wein and Hendrix. It was mainly financed by Hendrix manager Mike Jeffery, hence his appearance. The film is about Pat Hartley's "spiritual awakening" via a visit to the 'Rainbow Bridge' planetary meditation cult on Maui, where, as part of the proceedings Jimi Hendrix visits to play a concert during a 'Rainbow Bridge' mass meditation/colour/sound "experiment". The "Rainbow Bridge" concert was a free concert by Jimi Hendrix that was held on July 30, 1970, in a horse pasture above Seabury Hall, on the "Upcountry" slopes of Haleakala, the volcano that makes up 75% of the island of Maui, Hawaii, although it probably last erupted in the 17th century, it is officially considered as being active.

A modest audience of a few hundred island hippies, surfers, and students turned up following announcements that Hendrix would play a free concert for a film. Hendrix was also in Hawaii to play the last concert on his 'Cry of Love' tour with his reformed 'Jimi Hendrix Experience' (with Billy Cox replacing Noel Redding on bass & backing vocals. Mitch Mitchell & Cox were also previously members of Gypsy Sun and Rainbows). The director Chuck Wein introduced Hendrix' performance (no mention of a group name) as the driving force of this 'Rainbow Bridge' "experiment" , (this title is often mistaken as being the name of the site of this concert rather than the name of this "Planetary meditation" cult, an extension of the Gaia hypothesis into spiritual realms). The original cut, not surprisingly used very little of the concert footage, as this was not intended to be a concert film and no music from the performance was released on the official Reprise LP "Rainbow Bridge- Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" for contractual reasons and due to the original music soundtrack being unreleasable due to its very substandard sonic quality on account of strong winds that day. The album does include, however, the studio tracks featured in the film. However, the music from the concert was distributed as a bootleg recording for three decades, before Radioactive Records released this same bootleg recording on the 2003 album, The Rainbow Bridge Concert: The Early Show until it was withdrawn due to a court action by 'Experience Hendrix' which makes this officially a 'bootleg' CD release. The 'Rainbow Bridge' concert was the penultimate performance by Hendrix in the United States, his last was two days later on August 1, 1970, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hendrix died less than two months later on September 18, 1970 in London, England

The radio station KEXP out of Seattle, Washington is one of my favorite eclectic stations out there. Their YouTube channel that features video of many of the stations on air performances. Not only does KEXP bring in some incredible talent, they record amazing audio and terrific video of these outstanding events. It's hard not to be in awe of the work KEXP does.

Major kudos to the following people who made the videos of the band below happen:Engineer: Kevin SuggsCameras: Jim Beckmann, Carlton Eide, and Cassidy TurnerEditing: Jim Beckmann

Thanks to the Jazz Video Guy on YouTube for another great classic video from 1971 featuring Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett on Keys, Gary Bartz on sax, Michael Henderson on bass, Ndugu Chancler on drums and Don Alias on percussion.

Caught this unique duo while passing through the Venice Beach Boardwalk in Southern California. Saw them again a few weeks later and the news is that they are in the studio with one of the members of the Foo Fighters at the controls. Gaea is unique, raw and real. Enjoy! GC

Finding these vintage 1976 live films of Al Jarreau is reason for celebration. These are gems.

In 1977, my mom bought this 2 record set on vinyl when it came out and we must have played it hundreds of times. It was a style of jazz that seemed really fresh. I was exposed to all kinds of music, but this record was really different. Had never heard anybody scat sing like this, blending lyrics and scat with such fluid soul with super burning jazz groove band. Real players, no bullshit.

The album was titled "Look To The Rainbow: Live in Europe". This album took a long time to explore in all of it's intricacies and just loved listening to it really loud, which drove the crotchety old people across the street, Herbie and Irene, nuts. They loved to come bang on our front door yelling "turn it off!".

Al Jarreau album cover to Look To The Rainbow: Live in Europe

The record was recorded and was shot live in Hamburg, Germany in 1976. The musicians featured are Tom Canning on keys, Jerome Rimson on bass guitar and Nigel Wilkinson on drums.

One of the most popular songs on the record was Jarreau's unique version of the Paul Desmond classic, Take 5, that was already famous as it recorded by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. Jarreau's take on the song was a major departure, like a blast off to another planet. Be patient, the song does not really take off until the 2:20 point of the first video below. Enjoy! GC

Presently, Al Jarreau is signed to the Concord Music Group, home to numerous historical and current imprints/labels, and home to hundreds and hundreds of the most legendary established and well picked emerging artists, groups and songwriters.

This first song I ever heard Amy Winehouse do was Stronger Than Me. It was offered as free promotional download on music.download.com in 2002/2003 and was a rougher demo version than the album version. It was so beautiful, I melted each time I listened and must of played it hundreds of times. Been digging through my old drives looking for that old version.

This video below is the best version of this song I could find so far, thanks to one of the best music shows on the planet, Later with Jools Holland out of the U.K. on the BBC. Jools is a former member of Squeeze. Remember Squeeze's song titled Pulling Muscles from a Shell?

I love this recording, below, very much. It was early in Winehouse's career before she got carried away with tattoos, the drugs and the booze. She stands there, sexy as can be, delivering the goods, singing her ass off and nailing some very sweet guitar voicings on her Stratocaster. It was obvious genius in the making. Enjoy! GC

Connect direct with the official Amy Winehouse legacy website at AmyWinehouse.Com

This post was created by Gregory J. Chamberlain on July 23, 2011 with subsequent edits and updates by Mariana L. Villanueva for Indies Network.

I am so sad to have just read the story on the news wire that recording artist Amy Winehouse has passed away. Her music may never die. She had that "it" thing that I loved the first time I ever heard her music. Words cannot express my saddness at this time. She was a real true original.

I've always avoided even listening to Lady Gaga, let alone looking at her. I was the Anti-Gaga. What felt like overly manufactured music and the slutty whore vibe disgusted me. The pictures of her floating around the Internet pretending to be eating another woman's vagina might have been the catalyst for that way of thinking about her. Besides that, I always thought she was a media slut, packaged by public relations people with no integrity. Hated all the hype. It's just the way I am, for I rarely liked what the masses like in terms of manufactured music. Hated Britney Spears. Hated The Backstreet Boys.... I'd rather be condemned to silence. However, I just got a e-mail from Bob Leftsetz' blog regarding Lady Gaga and her performance on Howard Stern and for once, I was intrigued enough to go listen to the performance. Bob Lefsetz, by the way, is one of my favorite daily reads. The ultimate contrarian thinker on everything music and so much more. He has flipped my way of thinking on so many levels, so many times.

So, I read Lefsetz e-mail entitled "Gaga on Stern". You can read it at http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/07/22/gaga-on-stern/ and I had to go listen to the Gaga performances Bob references. I closed my eyes, as to not taint the listen with the imagery that has repulsed me for so long. And the result was that I loved it. Gaga's performance on Stern reminded me of what I like about Sara Bareilles, as well as a unknown featured on MusicTelevision.Com named Susan Calloway and her track Chasin' The Sun Why would I say this? Because Gaga just sat at the piano and delivered the goods with no pomp or circumstance, if you don't count the fact that the performance was on Howard Stern. She didn't need a wanked out costume, funny hair or makeup. She just sang her ass off. For the first time, I finally thought, WOW! Lady Gaga whose real name is Stefani, is the real deal. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta sang from the heart, I felt it and for the first time I believed her. If you have not been a Lady Gaga fan in the past, please, click play on the videos below and close your eyes and just listen. Enjoy! GC

Stefani (Lady Gaga) performed her song entitled The Edge of Glory

And, Stefani (Lady Gaga) performed her song entitled Hair

After listening to Stefanie play like this, perhaps it might be a good idea for her to make a entire record striped raw of the typical glam and overproduction and simply just sit at the piano and sing. That might be something just as big as what she has been doing, and possibly better.

This SuperHeavy project featuring Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, AR Rahman, Damian Marley and Dave Stewart is something I have been waiting for. Here is just a tiny taste with much more coming soon. But I must say, it's disturbing that there are so many teaser reels on YouTube with little substance. There are tweenagers on yourube pumping out full tracks, with videos and all on a daily and weekly basis and these legends are taking their sweet fucking time with teaser reels. It's starting to piss me off just a little bit. But try to enjoy being teased, none the less.

Right here, however, OK Go performs an all MOOG version of their song "This Too Shall Pass" from the 2010 album "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky" down at The MOOG Sound Lab.

The mood and tempo are set by Andy Ross via the Little Phatty's arpeggiator and staccato sound creating the perfect MOOG canvas for Damian and Tim.

Damian Kulash discovers the wonder of Full Sustain mode on the Moog guitar. Because of this, he was able to create a flowing violin esque melody and feel with little need for picking or strumming.

Tim Nordwind fills it all out with the Taurus 3 in Hand Mode. It's massive low register sound creates the perfect tone and ambience to pull the instruments together in this unique rendition of "This Too Shall Pass".

This is Ronnie Montrose and his band known as Montrose, circa 1974, that included Sammy Hagar at the time.

I agree 100% with one of the many comments on YouTube that said this about this song: "This the genuine﻿ article. No effects, synth, overdubbing, just great musicians. They didn't even need a second guitar. Kids should watch this so that they know what musicianship really is." Enjoy! GC

Wow.... I really like this song by 20 year old Aussie artist, Kim Churchill. Living out of his van and traveling to shows around his native country, this artist is walking the walk of the do it yourself artist as he tours hard to make a name for himself.

Thanks to a Melbourne Australia connection Alastair Burns and Prince Bandroom who produced this raw one take recording with no special effects or overdubs. Enjoy! GC

The soulful recording artist and producer, Kelly Moneymaker, was where I found out about the fabulous Jarle Bernhoft this week. I feel he is one of the freshest, most organic and unmanufactured emerging musical artists I have heard this year.

A little research uncovered that "Bernhoft", as he is known, has been emerging for years and is signed to Universal Music Norge of Norway. Mike Finnigan, the legendary hammond player and keyboardist extraordinaire who recently did another world tour with Joe Cocker, informed me that Berhoft opened for several Joe Cocker shows in Europe recently.

Bernhoft is a self contained unit, a one man band, that relies on loops he lays down with his voice and with instruments as he goes. His soulful and deliberate croon is contagious and entertaining. Enjoy! GC

Bernhoft and his track entitled Cmon Talk from his most recent 2011 release.

Bernhoft and his track entitled Choices from a recent release

Berhoft and his unreleased track entitled Since I was a Little Kid

If you like Bernhoft's music, sign up at his page, Bernhoft.Org, where all can get some free downloads for at least a little while!

The legendary keyboardist, hammond extraordinaire and vocalist, Mike Finnigan, turned his facebook friends onto this video of Enrique Morento a couple of days ago. Mike asked that all wait for the dancer, Eva Yerbabuena, to appear, which occurs at the 2 minute and 30 second point. Bravo! gc

Stephen O'Regan is one of my favorite producers of music content on YouTube with his ongoing music series known as Balcony TV at BalconyTV.Com. He has a network of directors in cities around the world that shoot bands and artists on various balconies. The videos and archives are posted on BalconyTV.Com and end up on O'Regan's YouTube Channel as well at youtube.com/stephenoregan.

Often times the interviews are in foreign languages, just like the films below shot on rooftops in Mexico City.